apostropheAn apostrophe is a punctuation mark that primarily serves to indicate either grammatical possession or the contraction of two words. It can also sometimes be used to pluralize irregular nouns, such as single letters, abbreviations, and single-digit numbers.Continue reading…a·pos·tro·phe 1 (?-p?s?tr?-f?)n. The superscript sign ( ‘ ), usually used to indicate the omission of a letter or letters from a word, the possessive case, or the plurals of numbers, letters, and abbreviations.[French, from Late Latin apostrophus, from Greek apostrophos, from apostrephein, to turn away : apo-, apo- + strephein, to turn; see streb(h)- in Indo-European roots.]ap?os·troph?ic (?p??-str?f??k) adj.a·pos·tro·phe 2 (?-p?s?tr?-f?)n. The direct address of an absent or imaginary person or of a personified abstraction, especially as a digression in the course of a speech or composition.[Late Latin apostroph?, from Greek, from apostrephein, to turn away; see apostrophe1.]ap?os·troph?ic (?p??-str?f??k) adj.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.apostrophe (??p?str?f?) nthe punctuation mark ‘ used to indicate the omission of a letter or number, such as he’s for he has or he is, also used in English to form the possessive, as in John’s father and twenty pounds’ worth[C17: from Late Latin, from Greek apostrophos mark of elision, from apostrephein to turn away]apostrophe (??p?str?f?) n (Rhetoric) rhetoric a digression from a discourse, esp an address to an imaginary or absent person or a personification[C16: from Latin apostroph?, from Greek: a turning away, digression] apostrophic adjCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014a?pos?tro?phe1 (??p?s tr? fi) n. the sign (‘), as used: to indicate the omission of one or more letters in a word, whether unpronounced, as in o’er for over, or pronounced, as in gov’t for government; to indicate the possessive case, as in woman’s; or to indicate plurals of abbreviations and symbols, as in several M.D.’s, 3’s. [1580?90;